Agrinas Ready to Follow Advice to Postpone Pickup Truck Imports from India
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The President Director of PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota, has stated that his company is prepared to follow the message from the House of Representatives (DPR) to postpone the import of pickup trucks from India intended for the operations of the Village/Sub-district Cooperatives under the Merah Putih programme (Kopdes).
The statement was made in response to a message from Deputy Speaker of the DPR, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, who requested that the government first postpone plans to import 105,000 pickup trucks from India for the Village Cooperatives.
“Whatever the DPR says, we will follow. Whatever the government says, we will follow. The point is we are obedient, faithful and loyal to the state and the people,” Joao told ANTARA in Jakarta on Monday.
Previously, news of the import plan by Agrinas was announced by Indian automotive company Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) on their company website on 4 February 2026. M&M announced it would supply 35,000 units of the Scorpio pickup.
On 20 February 2026, Agrinas Pangan Nusantara President Director Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota confirmed to domestic media the import of 105,000 vehicles from the Indian companies.
The hundreds of thousands of vehicles comprise 35,000 units of 4x4 pickup trucks from M&M, followed by 35,000 units of 4x4 pickups and 35,000 units of six-wheeled lorries from Tata Motors.
Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita affirmed that Indonesia is already capable of producing pickup vehicles independently, which serves as proof of the national automotive industry’s self-reliance whilst providing significant added economic value to the economy.
The Industry Minister explained on Thursday (19 February) that if the procurement of 70,000 units of 4x2 pickup vehicles were fulfilled through domestic production, it would generate backward economic linkages of approximately Rp27 trillion.
Deputy Speaker of the DPR Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said he had already conveyed a message to the government to first postpone the plan to import 105,000 vehicles from India for the needs of the Village/Sub-district Cooperative Merah Putih programme.
According to him, the plan needs to be postponed as President Prabowo Subianto is still on a working visit abroad. He added that the President would discuss the details of the plan upon his return.
Furthermore, he noted that the President would also seek opinions and calculate the readiness of domestic companies.
“Therefore, we have already conveyed the message for it to be postponed first. That is all,” Dasco said at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Monday.